Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez ran into trouble early Tuesday as the Blue Jays opened their Grapefruit League schedule with an 8-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pedro Alvarez, Jung Ho Kang and Elias Diaz homered for the Pirates, who led 6-0 early. Kevin Pillar homered for Toronto, which made it close on Josh Thole's two-run single with two outs in the eighth and another run in the ninth when the Jays left the bases loaded. Dalton Pompey, competing for the Jays' open centre-fielder spot, engineered a run in the third when he singled, stole second, took third on a sacrifice fly and scored on a Jose Bautista groundout.

Three people have been charged with human trafficking after Toronto police rescued a 14-year-old girl who they said was forced into sex work at a downtown hotel. Police said security staff responded to a noise complaint in a hotel room in the Bay Street and Dundas Street West area last Friday night. The teen told police she had been invited to the hotel by the three accused, and was then held in the room and forced to provide sexual services for a week. The girl said she feared for her safety and couldn't contact anyone because her cellphone was confiscated and the hotel phone was disabled.

Phil Kessel is mad as hell about how Dion Phaneuf is treated by the Toronto media, and he's not going to take it anymore. Kessel offered a passionate defence of the Maple Leafs' captain on Tuesday and said he was fed up with how certain media members talk about the team's No. 1 defenceman. Kessel said there was no one thing that set him off on the rant about Phaneuf and that he was just "tired of it." He said media members should be "ashamed" of what they've said to and about Phaneuf. Phaneuf has three goals and 20 assists in 51 games, and is tops in scoring among Toronto defencemen since Cody Franson was traded.

A 29-year-old teacher from Prud'homme, Sask. is on trial right now, charged with the sexual exploitation of a high school student in Watrous. Erin Osmond is accused of touching a young person for a sexual purpose and inviting him to touch her for a sexual purpose. Because of the transcripts of hundreds of text messages sent by Osmond and the student, a clear picture of how the relationship began has emerged.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress on Tuesday that an emerging agreement between Iran and the United States would all but guarantee that Tehran gets nuclear weapons and would be a very bad deal, drawing an extraordinarily blunt rebuttal from President Barack Obama. Netanyahu said "Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted," no matter what it says about permitting verification of the terms of any accord designed to prevent it from getting a nuclear bomb. "The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons," he said in remarks before a packed House chamber that drew loud applause from Republicans and a more restrained reaction from Democrats in an appearance that has stirred political controversy in two countries..

“It is possible to construct structural analogs to terrestrial bio-membranes that may work in the Titan environment, and it also demonstrates the flexibility of chemistry in making structures that could function for biochemistry in an exotic environment,” said co-author and astronomer Jonathan Lunine in an interview with Yahoo Canada News. Besides Titan, there are other possible places where liquid hydrocarbon abounds within our solar system worth looking for this new possible life form too. “So far, Titan seems to be the only locale in our solar system where methane is stably a liquid on the surface,” said Lunine. Of course the ultimate test would be to go to Titan and attempt to hunt for these exotic forms of life on its surface.

Sex shows streamed live online from two branches of the Windsor Public Library are being investigated by police. CBC News discovered more than 50 graphic sex shows were streamed from the Riverside and Fontainebleau branches in east Windsor between November of last year and the end of January. Police spokesperson Sgt. Matt D'Asti said investigators are asking for the public's help and for anyone who saw anything to come forward. The woman, who used the screen name "lilsecrett," streamed video of herself flashing her breasts, masturbating and using sex toys in front of a webcam for an online audience while using computers at the Riverside and Fontainebleau branches of the library.

A jury in the New York suburbs found Lacey Spears, of Scottsville, Kentucky, guilty of second-degree murder in the death last year of 5-year-old Garnett-Paul Spears. The defence portrayed Spears as a caring mother and her son as sickly, but the prosecution argued Spears reveled in the attention his illness brought her. Video showed Spears twice taking him into a hospital bathroom with a connector tube and him suffering afterward. "The motive is bizarre, the motive is scary, but it exists," Assistant District Attorney Patricia Murphy said in closing arguments Thursday.

After Monday night's 7-3 win over Ontario by Northern Ontario, issues of curling etiquette were brought to the fore. With statements from Team Jacobs and Curling Canada, seems the teapot is once again without a tempest

Martin Lehner is a security expert at Orange Technology in Whitehorse. He says users of Lenovo computers should get their computers checked for pre-installed software. Lehner says many Lenovo computers have software called, "Superfish", which is installed at the factory.

The trial of a 25-year-old woman accused of committing an indecent act on a Toronto-to-Halifax flight has been delayed because her lawyer is ill. Alicia Elizabeth Lander has pleaded not guilty to committing an indecent act, assaulting a police officer, committing an act of mischief and causing a disturbance at Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Jan. 24, 2014. Jason George Chase had pleaded not guilty to committing an indecent act, but he later changed his plea to guilty and waived his right to a trial.

The latest real estate numbers for Vancouver confirm what agents and buyers have been noticing: it's been a hot winter, and shifting toward a sellers' market. In February, Metro Vancouver home sales were up 20.2 per cent compared to the 10-year average for the month, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. "This is a very, very strong February, stronger than normal," said board president Ray Harris. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board called last month its busiest February since 2007.

On any given night, there are patrons under the age of 19 inside bars on George Street, she said. The CBC has agreed to protect her identity, and will refer to her as Renee for this story. Last year, photos of underage patrons inside Allure on George were published online, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation suspended the club's licence for 11 days. While Allure has been given a 90-day suspension of its liquor licence, Luc Viau, one of the bar's owners, said it's government's responsibility to take a closer look at how teens are gaining access.